Van Moll Fest Specials
They are bursting at the seams, shooting up like mushrooms and growing like cabbages (or hops). Again, because by now we know that such events are not a given. We are of course talking about Beer Festivals! We salute them all, but if we have to name one of the better ones, it is definitely Van Moll Fest. The 2022 edition is extra special for us, because Van Moll brewed 2 specials with our hops for this international beer festival!
Perhaps the best beer festival in the Netherlands
So one of the better ones, Van Moll Fest is in the (very) top spot as far as we are concerned. The location is iconic: Evoluon in Eindhoven, a gigantic flying saucer with a spacious garden around it. The latter makes it ideal for a beer festival in summery spheres. The organisation is top-notch, there is good food and plenty of shady spots, partly under the saucer of course, but also on the spacious lawn you won't burn to death because of the tents and shade screens that have been placed. All marginal matters of course, but very important ones that make the experience of the main issue so much more pleasant.
Beer
Because what it is all about at Van Moll Fest is beer. The line-up of brewers is impressive every year and of international stature, whereby it is noticeable that brewers like to come to the festival themselves (which is not a given these days). Puhaste Brewery (EST), Mad Scientist (HU), Adroit Theory (US), Verdant (UK), L'ermitage (BE), Bevog (AT), Arpus (LV), Omnipollo (SE), Sleeping Village Brewing (NO) are just a few examples of the international line-up this year. The list of Dutch brewers is at least as impressive.
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The Specials
Van Moll brewed 2 specials. The first one already saw the light of day: Solaris, which we wrote about earlier. A DDH IPA with only Polish hops, which tastes very good in the Eindhoven sun!
The premiere at the festival is for Sur La Vague, a Kveik IPA with Yuzu. Kveik is a traditional Norwegian yeast which gives a fresh taste of citrus, which is enhanced by the Japanese citrus fruit Yuzu. Together with Van Moll we selected Lunga and Sorachi Ace as hop varieties. The result is a fresh IPA of 6%, but with a nice twist.
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Lunga
Van Moll continues on the Polish tour with Lunga. Not so surprising, as there are some wonderful aromatic hops coming from Poland, of which Lunga is a good example. Pineapple stands out, alongside peach and grapefruit. It's no coincidence that this hop is part of the Tropical & Melon aroma profile.
Sorachi Ace
By now notorious and famous for its special aromas that are difficult to capture. Van Moll mentions blackcurrant, citrus, lemongrass and dill, and that certainly covers the bill. Sorachi Ace is originally a Japanese hop, ours comes from Austrian soil and according to Van Moll it is even tastier! Thanks for that, we can only agree of course.
Sur Le Vague can be tasted on 9 and 10 July 2022 at Van Moll Fest, afterwards in the better horeca's and of course at the Van Moll Bar.